batch programs and stuff

[AbteriX]

Talking about batch
i'd like to bring PCMags "Batchman" back to mind.

Batchman.- Multi-function batch program.

Old (1989) but packs 48 batch functions into a single 6K program.
Author: Michael Medford for PC Mag (1989).

e.g.
- CECHO [C] [nn,]string  nn=color;C=no CR
- SETLOOP n  n=loops (0-255)
- WAITTIL hh:mm[:ss]
- WAITFOR [mm:]ss
- year day hour ...
- GETKEY ['string' n]
...

Could be found e.g. within an "vol9n02.zip"  (59K) (or ask me)
--
Edit:
Oho, it's on rjbull's filegate list too: http://www.filegate.net/bfds/batman10.zip ;

[rjbull]

Talking about batch
Batchman.- Multi-function batch program.

Old (1989) but packs 48 batch functions into a single 6K program.

Stephan,

Two more small but powerful multi-function multi-purpose utilities, both shareware;

Bob Stephan's GET  http://www.redshift.com/~bstephan/bs01000.htm
Should also be on BFDS link above.  Very early versions of GET were public domain.  Later ones, with 3.5 being the last, were free for personal use (and still do plenty); the last few are all-payware.

PocketD - author site seems to have gone, here's a link for a description and download link
http://www.digibuy.com/cgi-bin/product.html?93930276892

[brotherS]

Hi Stefan,

please post a mini-review about that one, list all the features there and edit your last post to link to your new mini-review. Sounds like something many might be interested in!

@rjbull: His name is Stefan

[rjbull]

@rjbull: His name is Stefan

Apologies to Stefan.

I just mentioned Bob Stephan, author of GET.  That really is Bob's surname.  At my age, maybe you should expect neuronal crosstalk... 

PD version of GET:

  GET -- Bob Stephan's Batch file enhancer -- a public domain utility
        Syntax:  GET command argument
Purpose            Command      Argument  Environment Errorlevel  Extended
---------          -------      --------  --(GET=)--- --(Exit)--  --[E]---
Get character      C[E] ["prompt"] [chars]  Character  ASCII dec.  No Echo
Get yes/no aNswer  N[E] ["prompt"]  None    Character  ASCII dec.  No Echo
Get string          S[E] ["prompt"]  None    String      Length      No Echo
Moving Text(GetaKey)T[E] "Filespec" [chars]  Character  ASCII dec.  No Echo
Get DOS version    D[E]            None    Major Vers. MajorMinor  MinorEnv
Get environment left    E[E]        None    Bytes left  Bytes left  Bytes/10
Get file size (DIR=0)  F[E]  Filespec      Hex bytes  Kilobytes  Kb/10
Get disk space          K[E] [driveletter]  Kilobytes  Kilobytes  Kb/10
Get memory free        M[E]        None    Kilobytes  Kilobytes  Kb/10
Clear (Blank) Screen    B[E] [New attribute] Current or last attr.  HexAttr
Check for printer(PRN)  P[E]        None    1=yes,0=no  1=yes,0=no  Initialize
Get/set video mode      V  [New mode]      Current or last mode    None
Check coprocessor      7            None    1=yes,0=no  1=yes,0=no  None
Check for ANSI.SYS      A            None    1=yes,0=no  1=yes,0=no  None
Get current directory  Y[E]        None    Directory  Level/Drive Drive
Surrogate [char] args: } is Carriage Return, ~ is Escape, ` for Extended Keys.


Version 2.8 needs three pages of online help screens.

[Edvard]

Personally, I have used Rob Van der Woude's scripting pages as a reference for some time now. I also dabbled with PowerBatch (no longer available, quite old) that promised to make batch files into .exe's but I never got it to work. I'll look into these others you mention, as NT's batch language is quite different from even 95 and 98's.

[rjbull]

Personally, I have used Rob Van der Woude's scripting pages as a reference for some time now.

That's a good one.

I also dabbled with PowerBatch (no longer available, quite old) that promised to make batch files into .exe's but I never got it to work.

There were others, like Extended Batch Language (EBL), BatLite, and FromBAT, but I suspect most of them have gone during the rise of Windows.  Some people had reasonable success with PC Magazine's Bat2Exe, BAT2EX15.ZIP.  I always found I had too many external programs to make these very useful.

I'll look into these others you mention, as NT's batch language is quite different from even 95 and 98's.

Also take a look at Acme Software (now Swanson Software) batch file reference for Windows 2000 and XP at  http://www.acmesoffware.com/acme/Reference_BatchFile.asp